Is Beryly Lubala part of Michael Appleton's first-team plans with Blackpool?

The winger is Blackpool’s top scorer in pre-season, having netted against both Southport and Rangers.

Prior to this summer, Lubala had been out of action since February 2021, barring a short stint on loan with Northampton Town in League Two, owing to his well-documented court issues.

While it’s been suggested the 24-year-old could be loaned out again to get regular game time this season, Appleton says he’s in the mix to feature against Reading on the opening day.

When asked about his plans for Lubala, Pool’s head coach told The Gazette: “He’s like anyone else in the group, he’s trying to work hard and manufacture a shirt in the starting line-up.

“Bez has come in, he’s done well and hit the ground running.

“He’s scored a couple of goals, he’ll get more minutes (against Salford City) on Tuesday and like all of them, they’re all fighting to grab a shirt for the first game of the season.”

The Seasiders head to the Peninsula Stadium tonight for their fourth and penultimate pre-season friendly.

Salford-born Appleton is looking forward to the game, which now kicks off at the later time of 8pm due to the soaring temperatures, as it should allow his side to enjoy seeing more of the ball than they did against Rangers at the weekend.

“They will come with a lot of confidence thinking and probably expecting to get out of their league and be a strong side. I’m sure they’ve recruited well,” Appleton said.

“From our point of view, there are certain things in the middle third of the pitch and the top end of the pitch that I want to see on Tuesday, where we might not have been able to see as much against Leeds and Rangers because of how strong they were.”

Saturday’s narrow 2-1 defeat to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side came on the back of Blackpool’s pre-season training camp in Edinburgh.

The week-long camp was certainly a worthwhile exercise for Appleton, despite not being able to arrange another friendly while the Seasider were out there.

“It was great, it was fantastic,” he said.

“We had three really good days, strong days training with the group. We hit certain numbers in terms of their red zones that we wanted.

“Ideally we would have loved a game but because of the cup competition in Scotland, that didn’t transpire.

“I think the four days we had together allowed us to get to know each other a little bit, we spent a bit of time on the golf course and it was a good break.”

Supporters are no longer able to purchase tickets online for tonight’s game, however there will be a pay-on-the-gate option at the ground.

Tickets are priced at £7 for adults, £4 for concessions and £2 for Under-16s.

Turnstiles open from 7pm and Salford will be providing free bottles of water to all supporters.